We’re happy you’re here to learn more about digital security & abortion!

This page is organized into different security-related threats. You can jump to the ones that most concern you. Along with each scenario is a list of digital security tips to neutralize the threat!

These privacy recommendations are for informational purposes only, and do not constitute legal advice. Please consult with your own counsel for any questions on applicable local, state, or federal laws.

The problem: While browsing the internet and using our phones feels private, many companies actually watch what we do online and use our phones to track where we go. These records are used to target us with ads, and sold to data brokers and advertising firms. This is how Facebook can show you an ad for the items you just browsed in an online store!

The solution: If you want to keep your searches and movements private, follow these steps:

Don’t want Big Tech companies to store information about your pregnancy/abortion?

The problem: While browsing the internet and using our phones feels private, many companies actually watch what we do online and use our phones to track where we go. All of these companies — Google, Facebook, Amazon, your cell phone service provider, your internet provider, any app with access to your location data — keep records of what we do. These records are not only used for advertising, but can also be bought by governments and handed over to the police if the company gets a warrant.

The solution: If you want to keep your searches and movements private, follow these steps:

The problem: Often the person who pays your phone bill can log in to the account and see all the texts and numbers you’ve contacted.

The solution: Use a Voice Over IP (VOIP) app to keep your messages and call log in the application instead of in your phone company’s records. To be extra careful, you can delete the messages and call log history from the application, too. 

Worried someone with access to your phone will see your messages or your browsing history? Concerned your phone may be confiscated at a border crossing or encounter with law enforcement?

The problem: If you share a phone with family members, they may see your messages or browsing history. Or, you may encounter law enforcement or border patrol officers who demand to look at your phone.

The solution: To make it harder for people to extract information about you from your phone, follow these steps:

Don’t want your phone company to have copies of your browsing history or texts about your abortion?

The problem: When you use the internet, your internet service provider can keep records of the websites you visit. (However, thanks to encryption called HTTPS, they can’t see what you do on those websites.) When you send a text via SMS, your phone company stores copies of all those texts. These can be turned over if the phone company gets a warrant, or used for advertisement. If you want to keep your information private from your phone company, you can do the following:

The problem: Unfortunately, some people who are against abortion stand outside abortion clinics to try to shame and embarrass people going into the clinic. These people don’t know anything about you, your life, or your pregnancy. Rarely, protestors will have cameras and will try to scare you by taking pictures of people going into the clinic.

Want to share these tips on social media? Download graphics to share on Instagram here! (Note: file download will be a .zip file. Double click to unzip and see the graphics.)

Download a poster with these digital security recommendations & share in your home, office, or community!

This guide below is for anyone who wants to keep records of their abortion experience off of their physical phone. These tips are also broadly applicable to a desktop computer, tablet, or other device.

Please note: copies of this data may be kept by the companies and platforms on their servers, but these tips can help ensure these sensitive experiences are not able to be easily accessed by looking through your device.

The artwork on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license. You can reproduce and share these images freely, as long as you do not share them for profit. Please do not crop out the attribution. Thank you!